Muscat Photos - 4



Muscat has invested heavily in Roads and Flyovers. It is a pleasure to drive in this city




A panaromic view of Muscat city from Bowsher Heights. The Sultan Quboos Mosque, 3rd biggest in the world, can be seen at a distance 



A Ferris Wheel at Qurum Natural Park silhouetted against the evening sky



Muscat Photos - 3




A Tower and the Sultan Quboos Sports Complex silhouetted against the evening sun

 

NOTHING or 'NO'SINGH

Everyone who is anyone knew the Exchequer was being looted by the Telecom Minister for more than 3 years and gross impropriety was being committed. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING

The prestige of the Country was at stake when the ruling party politician in charge of Common Wealth Games was indulging in corruption and handling things incompetently. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

The prices of food items have gone up by nearly 100% in the past 3 years. Inflation is in double digits for nearly 18 months as per Whole Sale Price Index, and we are not even talking about Retail Prices. What do you do as the leader and supposedly a top economist? NOTHING.

The Minister responsible for Farmer Suicide, ruin of the Agriculture Sector, Foodgrains rotting, Scarcity of essential food items begged to be relieved of your portfolio 6 months ago. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

A major terror attack, which had the whole world supporting and grieving for you, happend 2 years ago and the finger clearly pointed to your neighbouring bully. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

There are many vacancies in the Council of Ministers for months together. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

1/4th of the Country is under the control of the Maoist. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

The Fiscal Deficit is spiralling and you are a 'top' economist. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

The Pariament is paralyzed for a whole session by the opposition and you, as the head of the Government, have the obligation to ensure smooth functioning of the Parliament. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

60% of the Country lives below the poverty line. You have an economic background. What do you as the leader? NOTHING.

A Corporate Lobbyist is caught with her pants down on a telephone tap which implicates many ministers, politicians and industrialists, apart from casting aspirations on your ministry formation. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

A................................................ bloody hell!! The list is endless. And the answer is always NOTHING or should be say 'NO'SINGH?

Silence is golden

Been silent on the blog front as there is hardly anything new to write about.

The problems facing India - inflation, interest rate hikes, corruption, misgovernance et al - keeps coming back to haunt you month after month like a never ending mega serial.

So for now................................ Silence!!!!

Loot and then hide behind SC/ST status

This is becoming a pattern.

No one grudges a person from SC/ST or any caste or tribe any position in India. We have had Presidents, Supreme Court Judges, Governors, Top Government officials, Ministers et al from the under privileged category.

But what is galling is some of these people indulging in blatant corruption, and then try to hide behind their minority or underprivileged status.

Telecom minister Raja did it. As did Mayawati. As did. As did Justice Dinakaran. Now Ex CJI K G Balakrishnan. The guy is proving to be extremely unworthy of his position, both ex as CJI and as Chairman of NHRC. His relatives, brother and sons in law, have amassed crores of wealth during his tenure as CJI. He also refused to take any action against Justice Dinakaran and misrepresented the complaint against Minister Raja, fellow Dalits. Now he is indirectly using The SC/ST All India Confederation, which today came out in support of former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, alleging there was a conspiracy behind the concerted attack on the NHRC chairman, whose relatives are facing charges of amassing disproportionate wealth."The campaign against Balakrishnan is part of a conspiracy by forces that seek to resist the ascension of persons belonging to SC/ST sections to high posts in the country," K Ramankutty, president of SC/ST All India Confederation, said at a press conference here.

These worthies, by supporting the scums in their midst, are doing a graver injustice to their people and they dont seem to realize it.

Wrong Priorities at every turn

It is amusing, at the same time sad, to note that we, as a country, have our priorities mixed up.

When wealth was the deciding factor in establishing the superiority of a Country in the 60's, 70's,80's and 90's , Indians waxed eloquent about the importance of knowledge while showing utter disregard for the word 'wealth' or 'profit'. We set up higher learning institutions of repute like IIT's, IIM's, REC's, IISc, IIFT, TISS, BITS, IRMA and even the level of education offered by the limited Engineering and Medical Colleges of various Universities was excellent. Due to the averred 'socialist' policies pursued by the Government, we scoffed at wealth accumulation and profit was deemed to be a dirty word. The perception of an industrialist was that of a scum or a thief. The resultant stagnation in the economy set us back by a few decades.

Now, when it is clear that we are in the era of Knowledge Economy, we Indians are funnily chasing the dollars at the expense of quality education. Our university syllabus are out of date, not forward looking and a degree is obtained with minimum effort. Heck! there is hardly any effort required. The higher learning institutions mentioned in the previous chapters have diluted their quality - REC allowing inferior students from NRI quota to study is a case in point - and we are churning out graduates and post gratduates in hoardes who are hardly employable and who lacks the skill sets required to succeed in the Knowledge Economy. Knowledge is a premium with our younger generation. And we are likely to miss out on the opportunity to grab the world leadership once again. India, or Bharat, has a rich tradition that is based on a solid foundation of Vedic Knowledge. It will be a travesty of justice, if we do not put it to use now.

Need to promote Indian Economic Model

This is the beginning of the new decade. (Despite the hype, year 2000 was not the beginning of the new millenium, it was year 2001. Hence 2011 marks the beginning of the second decade of the Millenium).

The past two decades have been spectactular, as it has seen the collapse of the two dominant economic models - the communism in 1990's and the capitalism in 2008. It would be naive to assume that the underlying philosophies behind both the models are wrong. Like anything else, the system is always good. It is the people who man the system who allow it to collapse. In the case of communism, it was the lust for power of the communist politbureau members and the top brass, while in the case of capitalism it was the greed of the top bankers that ensured ruin of the systems.

This is where the ancient Indian philosophy that lays considerable stress on ethics and value system comes to the fore. As one of the emerging economies, we need to sell our unique economic model built on the above two pillars to the outside world. We have a rich heritage, a treasure cove of knowlege, corporate governance models in our upanishads, vedas, and books like arthasasthra. The knowledge in them can be universally applied across eras. Before we promote them globally, we need to understand our own heritage, imbibe them and implement them.

For that we need a great leader who will show us the way? But where is he?